Too often I come across a blog post that looks very interesting but can’t finish it because the grammar is so poor.  Often I can’t read more than a sentence or two.

So please, if you write like a redneck, get some help.

I wrote about some of the most common and heinous grammar crimes I come across in:
How Poor Grammar Is Killing Your Traffic

Today I came across an excellent list of tools and resources for improving your grammar and writing ability.

Read: Tools and Resources for Grammar, Copywriting, Spelling and More

Photo by moonsheep

We all want traffic but did you know that poor grammar can seriously hinder your ability to get traffic?

When people read what you’ve written they start making judgments about you within a few seconds. If your writing is riddled with grammatical errors you will immediately lose credibility with the reader.

Where do I find these mistakes?

I find them all over.

Sometimes it will be when I read a blog post and I am so overwhelmed with the number of mistakes I encounter I have trouble focusing on the message of the blog post.

And I usually don’t finish reading it or come back to visit the blog. And I certainly won’t tell my friends about it.

Other times I get joint venture requests like this,
hi i like yur stuff and i wrote ebook fur you sells, yur peeps reelly like it, what you think.

When I read something as poorly written as that I try to imagine what the e-book will look like. Will it be 27 pages of the same type of writing?

Joint ventures can be a great way to get traffic but you will never get any joint ventures with poor grammar.

Sometimes people will e-mail me with questions and after several minutes of trying to decipher their text I still have no idea what they are really asking. More than once I have replied with, “I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you’re asking. How can I help?”

Guest blogging is another good way to jump start your traffic but no one is going to accept a guest blog post if it is riddled grammatical errors.

Grammar is complicated

I realize that grammar is a complicated subject and not all grammatical errors are created equal; mistakes in grammar can be categorized as lesser sins and greater sins.

Lesser sins of grammar

There are quite a few things that are technically wrong with your grammar but most people won’t really care that much.

Examples of this are: incorrectly using who & whom, ending a sentence with a preposition, and mixing up the words less and few.

These mistakes are quite common on the Internet and in the blogosphere and are usually forgivable.

Greater sins of grammar

On the other hand there are several serious grammatical mistakes that I come across every day.

If you want to improve your grammar than focus on the items below.

Homophones

Homophones are words that sound very similar but have different spellings and meanings.

Common Examples:

• to, two, too
• they’re, their, there
• your, you’re
• it’s, its

It’s critical that you know the difference between these words and use them correctly. Check out a longer list of homophones here.

Lack of capitalization

You need to capitalize the beginning of sentences and proper nouns.  (What is a proper noun?)

Also whenever you use the word “I” make sure you capitalize it i.e. I like ice cream NOT i like ice cream.

End questions with a question mark

I find it strange that so many people are ending questions without a question mark. This causes confusion for me. I will be reading what looks like a question and then it ends with a period which makes me go back and read it again to make sure it’s really a question.

Example:  You can help me with my website. Your help is appreciated.

I think this guy is asking for help with his website but he also may be simply stating that I have the ability to help them.

This is not instant messaging, texting, or even twitter

To a large extent instant messaging, texting, and Twitter have corrupted our ability to write a complete sentence.

If you’re going to publish content on your blog or website then take the time to think about what you’re going to say and use complete sentences.

And when you write please don’t use unnecessary abbreviations (i.e. OMG, BTW, BFF) like you would when texting.

Beware of voice recognition software

Voice recognition software can be of great benefit to us but it sometimes makes mistakes.

For example I wrote most of this blog post with Dragon Speak and while dictating this particular section I said, “Beware of voice recognition software” and the program typed “You wear a voice recognition software”.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony here.

One of the biggest problems with voice recognition software is that when it makes mistakes they will not be caught by a spellchecker; even though it chose the wrong words it still spells everything correctly.

Get a proofreader

Yah, you already know this.  Find a native-speaking friend to proofread your stuff and give you honest feedback.

It doesn’t have to be perfect

Unless you have been writing for a long time you are going to make mistakes and that’s okay.  No one will begrudge a mistake or two in a blog post.

It’s when have 15 or 20 mistakes that people start getting annoyed.

I struggle with grammar

In school I excelled in math & science and struggled in English class (especially writing).  I know my writing is no where near perfect and I would appreciate any suggestions you have on how to improve.

Welcome to Day 19 of 30 Days to More Traffic!

Introduction

In order to get streams of traffic coming into your site, you need to have a quality site with quality content.

Quality content means having interesting and unique content. In order to make the content unique, some has to write the content. If you are one of the many who struggle with writing, you have to come up with a solution.

You are not alone. For most people writing is tedious and even painful.

The best solution to this predicament is outsourcing the content writing for your sites and newsletters. Finding a good writer to do this work for you can be a tremendous help.

Of course, this solution comes at a cost.

Before you hire some one to write content for you, you have to consider this cost. Part of the cost is financial. Part of it is getting the kind of writing that you want.

These 4 tips for hiring writers will help you get what you want.

1. Know what you want.

In providing the writer with instructions on the content, be sure to answer these questions. This is necessary information for the writer but the process also helps you focus on your own target and goals.

• Where is your content going to be used?
• How many words would you like it to be?
• Who is your audience (e.g. are they electrical engineers or stay at home moms or 17 year old girls)?

Provide the writer with examples of the type of content that you want and examples of how you want it to be formatted. (e.g., short paragraphs, provided to you in text format)

Give the writer a working title of the article you want written (e.g., 10 Ways to increase your AdSense revenue).

The bottom line is that you have to give the writer as much specific guidance as possible. E.g., don’t say, “write about bears” say “I want an article with this title: Top 10 Foods that Grizzly Bears Eat.”

2. Be clear about your terms

Assume nothing. Even if it seems so obvious to you that you think it should not be mentioned, mention it anyway.

Make it very clear that you are requesting “work for hire” so that the writer understands that you will be the sole copyright owner of the work and can do with it as you wish.

This also means that the writer cannot write the same article for someone else.

State the price and the number of revisions you are expect to be included in the price.

Tell writers they must have a full command of the English language.

Arrange in advance how you are going to pay the writer and when you are going to pay the writer. For projects under $50, I always pay half up front and half upon completion.

For a larger project it is a good idea to pay a small sum up front, in the $25-$100 range. When the writer turns in the first piece, pay for that piece.

Continue paying as the writer finishes each piece until the entire project is finished.

Paying as you go gives writers the confidence that they will get paid for their work.

3. Don’t take the first bid or the lowest bid for your project.

You are in a hurry to get on with the job. However, it is important that you are not impulsive and accept the first offer that rolls in.

Don’t accept the cheapest bid either until you do your research. The cheapest bid could come from a really good writer trying to break into the business. It could also come from someone who cannot write a sensible word.

Do your homework! Check out the feedback the bidders have received. On some sites such as Elance checking feedback is easy.

On the Warriors Forum, it’s a different situation. The best bet on WF is not to advertise for a writer but ask who has hired a good writer in the past.

Finding someone who has had experience with this writer is the best way to learn the facts about the writer’s performance.

You should also ask the writer for three references and actually check the references.

Always ask the references the following:

• What was the size or scope of the project?
• Were deadlines met?
• How was the quality of the final product?
• How many revisions did it take?
• Would you hire this writer again?

Another must is to ask for examples of the writer’s work so you can see for yourself the quality of the product the writer turns out.

4. Build a relationship of trust

Finding a good writer can take a lot of time. At first it might seem like you have hundreds to choose from but the reality is that out of 100, only 2 or 3 are good.

I recommend when trying someone for the first time to start small. One article with a short deadline lets you see how the writer handles the task. A 500-word article and a deadline of one to four days will show how well the writer handles things.

If the short project is successful, don’t pile on a lot of work but gradually give them more responsibility as they perform well on smaller projects.

For instance, when doing a bigger project such as a 30-page ebook, don’t give it all to the writer at once. Break it into sections or chapters and ask for one section to be delivered before they receive the next one.

By assigning one piece at a time and only giving the writer the instructions for that piece, you can see how well the writer performed before going to far into the project.

If you set a short deadline for a simple section, you keep the writer focused and the writer is not too overwhelmed by a big project.

Because the writer has just the instructions for that piece, the writer will be able to create a more thorough document because all the attention is on just that one element of the overall project.

A real benefit of this approach is if the writer is not satisfactory, you can just end the relationship and move on to the next selected writer. Also the writer does not have all your good project thoughts in his or her possession. All the writer has is just the information for the one small section.

If you find a good writer, nurture the relationship. If you can build a relationship of trust with a writer, you will save a ton of time in the long run.

Over time the writer will get to know you and understand your projects. This means the writer will need fewer specifics about future projects.

Don’t be tempted to switch to someone else to save a buck.

What are your tips for hiring writers?

This 9 minute video shows how to create a buy now button that has a high conversion rate.

Photo by reportergimm

This is a guest post by Steven Wagenheim.

Article writing is an art.

Depending on what it is you want to get across to your reader, the article needs to be written a certain way in order to be effective.

However, there is one thing that is pretty universal when it comes to reading articles. Your average reader has a short memory.

I’m not talking about Mr. Brainiac who can retain 5,000 words like it was a single sentence.

I’m talking about your average Joe who has already forgotten paragraph one by the time he gets to paragraph four.

Because of this, there are two things you should do when writing articles. If you can’t do both, then you better do the last one.

Tip #1

At the top of the list is something very simple.

Keep the article short.

Unless you’re writing a technical journal, there is no reason for your article to be THAT long.

If you really have that much to say, break the article up into more than one article.

Make it a series of articles if the topic is so immense.

People aren’t going to be able to retain a 3,000 word article in one sitting.

And if you’re not the most interesting writer in the world, forget it, they won’t even get through it and you’ve defeated the purpose of your article…to get it read.

Tip #2

If you can’t keep the article short, and even if you can, the other thing you should do is summarize what you just told the reader.

In the last paragraph of the article, write a brief summary of what you just said above.

Sometimes this can get a little tricky if you’ve touched on a number of bullet points in the article itself.

But any kind of summary, even if incomplete, is better than no summary at all.

Pick out the most important things to stress at the end.

This will put those things firmly in the mind of the reader when they walk away from your article.

Summary

There you have it…two simple tips.

Keep the article short and summarize at the end, just like I did here.

If you do these two simple things, your article will have more of an impact on the reader and they’ll retain more of it when they’re done.

To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people’s attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html – This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.